Compartmented nautical storage rack

ABSTRACT

A compartmented nautical storage rack including a first compartment adapted to receive nautical charts and having drainage holes at the bottom thereof, a second compartment adapted to receive binoculars secured to a front wall of the first compartment and having drainage holes in the bottom thereof, the second compartment being centrally disposed on the front wall of the first compartment and having a base aligned with a base of the first compartment to permit the rack to stand by itself, a small compartment formed within the first compartment and adapted to receive dividers and pencils, a small compartment formed adjacent a side wall of the second compartment and adapted to receive a fog whistle and spring clips secured to the front wall of the first compartment adjacent a side wall of the second compartment and adapted to hold a flashlight.

United States Patent Colter 3,684,102 Aug. 15, 1972 COMPARTMENTEDNAUTICAL STORAGE RACK 221 Filed: Jan. 19, 1971- 21 Appl.No.: 107,673

[52] US. Cl. ..2ll/88 [51] Int. Cl. ..'.A47f 5/08 [58] Field of Search..2l1/88, 86, 13, 71, 126, 128, 211/60 [56] References Cited 8 UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 1,713,275 s/1929' Gibson ..21 use 1,416,767 5/1922 Vought..2l l/88 2,695,151 11/1954 Lord ..2ll/13 X 2,763,378 9/1956 Black..2ll/88 2,862,626 12/1958 Clare .,....2l1/88 2,979,120 4/1961 Amburn..2l l/88 X 3,442,393 5/1969 Koppelman ..2l l/l3 Primary Examinere-NileO. Byers, Jr. Attorney-Sherman and Shalloway [57] ABSTRACT Acompartmented nautical storage rack including a first compartmentadapted to receive nautical charts and having drainage holes at thebottom thereof, a second compartment adapted to receive binocularssecured to a front wall of the first compartment and having drainageholes in the bottom thereof, the

. second compartment being centrally disposed on the front wall of thefirst compartment and having a base aligned with a base of the firstcompartment to permit the rack to stand by itself, a small compartmentformed within the first compartment and adapted to receive dividers andpencils, a small compartment formed adjacent a side wall of the secondcompartment and adapted to receive a fog whistle and spring clipssecured to the front wall of the first compartment adjacent a side wallof the second compartment and adapted to hold a flashlight.

9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures COMPARTMENTED NAUTICAL STORAGE RACKBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The presentinvention pertains to compartmented storage racks and, moreparticularly, to such storage racks for storing nautical instrumentscommonly utilized for navigation of a vessel.

2. Discussion of the Prior Art During the navigation of a vessel, thereare specific instruments which are frequently utilized and must bereadily accessible to the pilot. Such instruments include, among others,dividers, pencils,'parallel rules, navigation charts, nautical sliderules or computers, binoculars, and flashlights; and, as will beappreciated, there is a need for a storage device for these instrumentsto permit the pilot to have ready access thereto.

When approaching an anchorage, even when the vessel is equipped with adepth finder, it is necessary to repeatedly refer to a harbor chart withthe utilization of suitable instruments. Such charts cannot be easilystored in an accessible manner in that wind tends to blow the chartsaway and pitching and rolling of the vessel tends to make the chartsslide off the bridge. Similarly, other navigational instruments cannotbe readily stored in accessible position to the pilot due to wind, rainand movement of the vessel.

The use of the above mentioned nautical instruments is normally related;and, accordingly, it is desirable to store such instruments in closeproximity to one another. Furthermore, the nautical instruments arefrequently removed from the vessel either for replacement or for safetypurposes; and, thus, it can be seen that it would be desirable toprovide means for transporting the nautical instruments as well asstoring them.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide a compartmented nautical storage rack for storingnavigational instruments in a well defined an readily accessible area.

The present invention is generally characterized in a compartmentednautical storage rack including a first compartment having a frontwall,side walls, and a base having drainage means therein, and a secondcompartment having a front wall, side walls attached to the front wallof the first compartment and a basehaving drainage means therein, thesecond compartment being smaller in height and width than the firstcompartment.

Another object of the present invention is to construct a compartmentednautical storage rack that is portable in order to permit stationarystorage of nautical instruments aboard a vessel and transporting of thestorage rack and nautical instruments from the vessel.

A further object of the present invention is to construct acompartmented nautical storage rack adapted to store use-relatednautical instruments in close proximity to one another.

Some of the advantages of the present invention over the prior art arethat all nautical instruments required during normal navigation of avessel are readily accessible to the pilot of a vessel, thecompartmented nautical storage rack is economically manufactured, andthe compartmented nautical storage rack is portable and can stand stablyon its base.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description of the preferred embodimentstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of acompartmented nautical storage rack in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the storage rack of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation in section of the storage rack of FIG. 1,resting on a support surface.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a modification of the storage rack ofFIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A compartmented nauticalstorage rack 10, constructed in accordance with the present invention,is illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The storage rack 10 includes acompartment 12 having a rectangular front wall 14 and a pair ofrectangular side walls 16 and 18 extending transversely from the sideedges of front wall 14 anddisposed in parallel relation. The oppositeside edges of side walls 16 and 18 are attached to a mounting plate 20which forms a back wall for the compartment l2 and extends beyond sidewalls 16 and 18 to define mounting flanges 22 and 24, each of which hasa plurality of vertically spaced keyhole slots 26 therein. A base 28 ofcompartment 12 is attached to front wall 14, side walls 16 and 18, andmounting plate 20 and has a plurality of drainage holes 30 therein.

A small compartment or pocket 32 is formed in the upper left hand cornerof compartment 12 and includes a side wall 34 having its side edgesattached to front wall 14 and mounting plate 20 and a bottom 36 attachedto the bottom edge of side wall 34 and front wall 14, side wall 18, andmounting plate 20. A pair of drainage holes 38 and 40 are disposed inside walls 18 and 34 respectively, adjacent bottom 36 of pocket 32.

As is illustrated in dashed lines in FIG. 1, compartment 12 is providedwith suitable height and width to accommodate such navigationalinstruments as navigational or maritime charts, tide tables,radio-weather directories, or the like 42 and long parallel rules 44.Pocket 32 is adapted to receive such instruments as pencils 46 anddividers 48, and,.-accordingly, is provided with sufficient depth suchthat a predominant portion of the instruments are retained within thepocket and a small portion of the instruments extends from the pocketfor ready access. Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 3, bottom wall 36is supported within compartment 12 such that pocket 32 has a heightapproximately one-third of the height of compartment 12.

A compartment 50 is centrally disposed on front wall 14 of compartment12 and includes a rectangular front wall 52 and parallel rectangularside walls 54 and 56 extending from front wall 52 and having side edgesat tached to front wall 52 and front wall 14 of compartment 12. A base58 is attached to front walls 14 and 52 and side walls 54 and 56 and isdisposed in the same plane as base 28 of compartment 12 such that, asillustrated in FIG. 3, the bases 28 and 58 form a support for thestorage rack 10. A plurality of drainage holes 60 are formed in base 58.

Compartment 50 has sufficient height, depth and width to store a pair ofbinoculars 62, indicated in dashed lines in FIG. 1, or a pressurized airhorn and a pair of L-shaped cleats or protrusions 64 and 66 project fromfront wall 14 of compartment 12, which forms the back wall ofcompartment 50, into compartment 50. Cleats 64 and 66 are spaced toreceive an object such as the nautical slide rule 68 indicated in dashedlines in FIG. 1. It will be appreciated that the nautical slide rule 68may be removed from compartment 50 only by moving the slide verticallypast cleats 64 and 66; and, accordingly, the slide rule is stablyretained so as not to interfere with storage and removal of binoculars62. It will be appreciated that the accessibility and dimensions ofcompartment 50 render it particularly adaptable for use with smallcraft, such as outboards, to hold such nautical instruments as speedwands, tools, flares, keys, fish knives, compasses and the like.

A side compartment 70 is formed adjacent side wall 56 of compartment 50and includes a front wall 72 having a side edge attached to side wall 56of compartment 50 and a side wall 74 having side edges attached to frontwall 14 of compartment 12 and front wall 72. A base 76 is attached tofront wall 14, side wall 50, front wall 72, and side wall 74 and isdisposed in the same plane as bases 28 and 58 of compartments 12 and 50.A plurality of drainage holes 78 are disposed in base 76, and a pair ofslots 80 and 82 are disposed in the upper edge of side wall 74 toreceive the ring of a stop watch 84, as indicated in dashed lines inFIG. 2. As illustrated in dashed lines in FIG. 1, compartment 70 isadapted to store a fog whistle 85 as well as provide support for stopwatch 84.

A pair of spring clips 86 and 88 are secured in vertically spacedrelation to front wall 14 of compartment 12 adjacent side wall 54 ofcompartment 50. Spring clips 86 and 88 are adapted to firmly hold atubular object such as the flashlight 90 indicated in dashed lines inFIG. 1.

It will be appreciated that each of the compartments in the storage rackis provided with drainage means to drain fluids therefrom. Compartments12, 50 and 70 each have drainage holes in the bases thereof, and pocket32 has drainage holes 38 and 40 adjacent the bottom thereof such thatany fluid accumulated therein will be disposed of either throughdrainage hole 38 or through drainage hole 40 and drainage holes 30 inthe base of compartment 12. Accordingly, any fluid such as watercollected during a driving rain storm or merely from windswept spraywill not remain in the storage rack to cause damage to the instrumentstored therein, but rather will be speedily disposed of.

In order to facilitate the removal of short objects such as charts fromcompartment 12, a centrally disposed elongated vertical slot 92 isformed therein extending into compartment 50, and a transverselyextending elongated slot 94 communicates with slot 92 to provide ahandle grip for transporting the storage rack 10. In a similar fashion,the front wall 52 of compartment 50 is provided with a recess 96 tofacilitate grasping of binoculars 62.

Due to the symmetry of construction of the storage rack 10, it may bestably rested upon a support surface, as indicated in FIG. 2, withoutfear of tipping. Accordingly, the storage rack may be easily transportedto and from a vessel, and such transporting is facilitated by the use ofslot 94 as a handle since the weight of the storage rack is evenlydistributed thereabout. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the storagerack 10 may be detachably mounted on a bulkhead or wall 98 of a vesselby means of headed screws or pins 100 which'extend therefrom and areadapted to be received through the heads of keyhole slots 26 to securelyhold the storage rack in position aboard the vessel.

A modification of the compartmented nautical storage rack of FIGS. 1, 2and 3 is illustrated in FIG. 4 and identical parts are given identicalreference numbers and are not described again.

The primary difference between the storage rack of FIG. 4 and thestorage rack of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is that the storage rack of FIG. 4 isadapted for permanent attachment to a bulkhead or wall of a vessel.Accordingly, mounting flanges 102 and 104 extend from the side edges ofside walls 16 and 18 in order to receive vertically spaced screws 106 orother fastening devices for permanently mounting the storage rack to thewall or bulkhead 98. Since the storage rack is permanently attached,there is no requirement for the handle grip provided by slot 94 and,accordingly, vertical slot 92 extends to the upper edge of front wall14. Furthermore, mounting plate 22 is not required since the wall 98 ofthe vessel may form the back wall of compartment 12.

It will be appreciated from the above description of the presentinvention that the compartmented nautical storage rack provideseffective and readily accessible storage for nautical instrumentsnormally utilized in the navigation of a vessel. The instruments may beeasily removed from the rack and replaced therein, and such instrumentsare stably stored to prevent accidental removal therefrom and, furtherto provide protection from the elements such as wind and to some extent,from rain or spray.

From the above, it can be seen that the compartmented nautical storagerack of the present invention provides a compartment 12 that may beeither openbacked or closed dependent upon its nature of installation.That is, there is no need to provide a back for compartment 12 if thestorage rack is to be permanently mounted on a bulkhead or wall of avessel. However, if the storage rack is desired to be portable, a backfor compartment 12 is required. The dimensions of compartment 12 aresuch as to accommodate nautical charts, parallel rules and variouspublished aids to navigation, and pocket 32 formed within compartment 12has dimensions to accommodate dividers and pencils. Compartment 50,which is centrally disposed between the side walls of compartment 12, isdimensioned to hold binoculars, an air horn or other nauticalinstruments, and may be constructed by itself with a back wall andthereafter secured to the front wall of compartment 12. Compartment hasdimensions to accommodate a fog whistle and is slotted to hold the ringof a stop watch, and compartment 70 may also be constructed separatelyand thereafter mounted on the front wall of compartment 12 and a sidewall of compartment 50. It will thus be appreciated that the storagerack of the present invention may contain various combinations of theabove described compartments, pockets and mounting means; however, it ispreferable and highly advantageous to combine compartment 50 withcompartment 12 to provide a stable support for the storage rack asillustrated in FIG. 3.

The compartmented nautical storage rack may be constructed ofconventional materials in any suitable manner. That is, the storage rackcould be constructed of wood with actual attachment of the various wallsand bases, or the storage rack could be integrally formed of a plasticmaterial. To this end, it will be appreciated that the above descriptionof the structure of the storage rack is intended to include walls andbases which are not separate but actually are smoothly connected attheir side and bottom edges. Similarly, the storage rack could beconstructed of metal with a reduced number of elements in that the sideand front walls and the bases of the compartments could be integrallyformed by bending a single sheet of metal.

Inasmuch as the present invention is subject to many variations,modifications, and changes in detail, it is intended that all matterabove described or shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

l. A compartmented nautical storage rack for storing nauticalinstruments in accessible positions comprising a first compartmentincluding a first front wall, first and second side walls extendingtransversely from said first front wall at the side edges thereof, and afirst base connected with said first front wall and said first andsecond side walls and having drainage means therein to drain fluids fromsaid first compartment, said first compartment having a first height anda first width and adapted to permit storage of nautical charts therein;and a second compartment including a second front wall, third and fourthside walls extending transversely from said second front wall at theside edges thereof and connected with said first front wall of saidfirst compartment, and a second base connected with said second frontwall and said third and fourth side walls and having drainage meanstherein to drain fluids from said second compartment, said first andsecond bases being aligned in the same plane, said second. compartmenthaving a height less than the height of said first compartment and awidth less than the width of said first compartment and adapted topermit storage of binoculars therein; said first front wall having afirst elongated slot disposed in an upper portion thereof incommunication with and transverse to said first elongated slot wherebysaid first elongated slot facilitates removal of nautical charts storedin said first compartment and said second elongated slot forms acarrying handle for said storage rack.

2. The compartmented nautical storage rack as recited in claim 1 whereinsaid first compartment includes a back wall disposed parallel to saidfront wall and connected with said first and second side walls and saidfirst base whereby said storage rack may be detachably mounted on avessel.

3. The compartmented nautical storage rack as recited in claim 2 whereina pocket is formed in said first compartment and includes said firstside wall of said first compartment, a fifth side wall disposed parallelto said first side wall and connected with said first front wall, and abottom connected with said first side wall, said fifth side wall andsaid) first front wall, said t ssaarssis ala aa assess s 52a firstcompartment, and drainage means disposed adjacent said bottom of saidpocket to drain fluids therefrom.

4. The compartmented nautical storage rack as recited in claim 3 whereina third compartment is formed adjacent said first and secondcompartments and includes a sixth side wall connected with said firstfront wall and disposed parallel to said third side wall, a third frontwall connected with said sixth side wall and said third side wall, afourth base connected with said first and third front walls and saidthird and sixth side walls and having drainage means to drain fluidsfrom said third compartment.

5. The compartmented nautical storage rack as recited in claim 4 whereinprotrusion means extend from said first front wall into said secondcompartment to define abutments adapted to receive a nautical sliderule.

6. The compartmented nautical storage rack as recited in claim 5 whereinspring clip means are secured to said first front wall adjacent saidfourth side wall of said second compartment and adapted to securelymount a flashlight.

7. The compartmented nautical storage rack as recited in claim 2 whereinsaid first elongated slot extends into said second compartment.

8. The compartmented nautical storage rack as recited in claim 2 whereinsaid second compartment is centrally disposed between said first andsecond side walls of said first compartment.

9. The compartmented nautical storage rack as recited in claim 8 whereinsaid back wall extends past said first and second side walls to definefirst and second mounting flanges for detachably mounting said storagerack.

H UNiTED STATES A' ENTIQFFICE V ERT FICATE-10F CORRECTION 1 Patent No@3, ,102 I I 1 Dateti August 15, i972 Q It is certified that err rappersih tn above-:identified'patnt and that said iietters Patgnt arehereby niorfegtedjaghown below:

s-igned and sealed th 26thday .QiY D e ce mbElQYZ;

(SEAL) ,Atte' s t:

EDWARD M.FLEYTCHER,JR.,

' ROBERT YGOY'ITSGHALK 1-, Atte shing Officer: A H 1 Commissioner of Patents USCOMM'DC 60376-1 69 H a GOVEHHNE'NT PRINYTHHS OFFICE i957 (I-L 1

1. A compartmented nautical storage rack for storing nauticalinstruments in accessible positions comprising a first compartmentincluding a first front wall, first and second side walls extendingtransversely from said first front wall at the side edges thereof, and afirst base connected with said first fronT wall and said first andsecond side walls and having drainage means therein to drain fluids fromsaid first compartment, said first compartment having a first height anda first width and adapted to permit storage of nautical charts therein;and a second compartment including a second front wall, third and fourthside walls extending transversely from said second front wall at theside edges thereof and connected with said first front wall of saidfirst compartment, and a second base connected with said second frontwall and said third and fourth side walls and having drainage meanstherein to drain fluids from said second compartment, said first andsecond bases being aligned in the same plane, said second compartmenthaving a height less than the height of said first compartment and awidth less than the width of said first compartment and adapted topermit storage of binoculars therein; said first front wall having afirst elongated slot disposed in an upper portion thereof incommunication with and transverse to said first elongated slot wherebysaid first elongated slot facilitates removal of nautical charts storedin said first compartment and said second elongated slot forms acarrying handle for said storage rack.
 2. The compartmented nauticalstorage rack as recited in claim 1 wherein said first compartmentincludes a back wall disposed parallel to said front wall and connectedwith said first and second side walls and said first base whereby saidstorage rack may be detachably mounted on a vessel.
 3. The compartmentednautical storage rack as recited in claim 2 wherein a pocket is formedin said first compartment and includes said first side wall of saidfirst compartment, a fifth side wall disposed parallel to said firstside wall and connected with said first front wall, and a bottomconnected with said first side wall, said fifth side wall and said firstfront wall, said pocket having a height less than the height of saidfirst compartment and a width less than the width of said firstcompartment, and drainage means disposed adjacent said bottom of saidpocket to drain fluids therefrom.
 4. The compartmented nautical storagerack as recited in claim 3 wherein a third compartment is formedadjacent said first and second compartments and includes a sixth sidewall connected with said first front wall and disposed parallel to saidthird side wall, a third front wall connected with said sixth side walland said third side wall, a fourth base connected with said first andthird front walls and said third and sixth side walls and havingdrainage means to drain fluids from said third compartment.
 5. Thecompartmented nautical storage rack as recited in claim 4 whereinprotrusion means extend from said first front wall into said secondcompartment to define abutments adapted to receive a nautical sliderule.
 6. The compartmented nautical storage rack as recited in claim 5wherein spring clip means are secured to said first front wall adjacentsaid fourth side wall of said second compartment and adapted to securelymount a flashlight.
 7. The compartmented nautical storage rack asrecited in claim 2 wherein said first elongated slot extends into saidsecond compartment.
 8. The compartmented nautical storage rack asrecited in claim 2 wherein said second compartment is centrally disposedbetween said first and second side walls of said first compartment. 9.The compartmented nautical storage rack as recited in claim 8 whereinsaid back wall extends past said first and second side walls to definefirst and second mounting flanges for detachably mounting said storagerack.